What's in My Shower!

Here's a post just for fun. 

Here is what's in my shower:

Cetaphil Body Wash.

Live Clean shampoo.

Head and Shoulders for those dandruffy days.

Dove conditioner.

St Ives Apricot Scrub for Sensitive Skin.

Venus razor.

Bath puff. And mine really is purple.

What's in your shower? I'd love to know.

My Favourite Casserole (+ update!)

Here's a recipe for my favourite casserole, which I made tonight for supper!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake
(originally found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks website)

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 large can tomato sauce
4 cups whole wheat rotini pasta (or pasta of your choice)
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1 green onion, chopped
salt and pepper

Saute ground beef with onion, add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer.

Meanwhile, boil pasta. Drain. Mix with cottage cheese, sour cream, green onion and salt and pepper.

Layer pasta with meat sauce, topping with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.

Deeeeeelicious!

In other news, Reid is absolutely awesome! He's crawling, pulling himself up to stand on absolutely everything, eating everything under the sun, but still can't sit up on his own yet! He doesn't have any teeth yet, either...still flashes that gummy grin at everyone!

Reid and I are flying to Killarney on April 3 and staying for 2 weeks! Sort of one last hurrah before my mat leave ends and I'm back to work. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, and for them to see Reid in all his glory!

My mat leave is over at the end of May, so I'm back to work at my daycare on May 21. I'm totally nervous about going back and being apart from Reid all day. But in reality it won't be all that bad! Reid will be in the baby room, and I'll be in the toddler room, so I'll really only be 50 feet away from him all day. Which is a lot better than across town. Still, I will miss my little baldie. I am praying for peace about this decision, which really isn't a decision at all, because we can't afford for me not to work. So I am praying for peace about this new reality that will begin in May. Praying for peace that my baby will be OK with strangers. Praying for reassurance that the crying won't last forever and he will be happy and love his new little friends and his teachers. Praying that I will love my job and my little toddlers and that I will survive each day. Praying for courage as our lives will change, become more hectic, and our time with Reid in the evenings will be brief. This last year of mat leave was like living in a bubble and I can't remember what life was like before Little Mister came along. It'll be a hard adjustment, but one that can't be avoided.

Since January, I've been trying consistently to watch what I eat, exercise more and loose weight. My motivation for this is to be a healthier mom to Reid and to have healthier future pregnancies without the complications I had last time. I started off on Weight Watchers in January and have just recently switched to the free online website My Fitness Pal. So far I've lost about 8 pounds, which is a healthy, steady loss, but of course I am impatient and wish it was faster! Maybe I shouldn't have eaten those M&Ms today......!

Well, that's about it!
Happy Easter!

Things I've been loving lately.

Wow, it's been a while.

Here are some things I have been loving lately.

I bought the High Liner Pan Sear fish on a whim because of a $4 off coupon at the grocery store. I've only tried the Lemon Pepper Sole but it was fantastic. I felt I was dining at a restaurant. Instead, I was eating on the couch watching old episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" and loving it. A bit pricier (I think $6.99 or more) per box, but it really was delicious, and the coupon made it more affordable. I'll definitely be looking for more coupons in the future. Reid loved it too - his first taste of fish!

This President's Choice Toasted Sesame Vinaigrette dressing is super yummy. Great with a mandarin chicken salad type meal. A bit pricier at around $2.99 for a skinny bottle...this is a sometimes splurge purchase that I thoroughly enjoy. 

I just finished reading "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry as suggested by Erica at our blog The Greatest Pleasures. A big read, for sure, but thoroughly enjoyable. I couldn't put it down.

Another book I just read (again, suggested by Erica) is "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Thoroughly amazing and SERIOUSLY couldn't put this one down....read into the night to finish! Well, until 11:00 which for me is "into the night"!!!

I've also really been loving Pinterest lately. I even took one idea and did something with it: served dip in an open top pepper with my veggie plate at a baby shower over the weekend! I enjoy seeing what my friends have been pinning. So far I haven't done too much searching on my own, as I don't have any thing I want ideas for at the moment, but I know when I need to search, I'll hit the jackpot.

I've also recently been trying out My Fitness Pal, a free online food diary (amongst other things). I have been doing Weight Watchers since January, but have heard others using MFP and thought I'd try it out. I may make the switch! It's free (bonus!) and easy to use. It's online food database is WAY better than WW, making it super easy to track what you eat. Plus there's a sweet app for it for my Smartphone. It tracks calories, sodium, carbs, etc., and lets you track your exercise, too.

The weather is getting nicer, snow is melting and I can skip around town in my City Sneaks from Payless. I bought these last spring when I was preggers and had giant swollen feet. These fit awesome and were sweetly reminiscent of my Granny. I still love them and wear them when I'm getting groceries or doing other errands. I wear mine with just the white laces. And at only $19.99 (I think), they are a fabulous buy.

I am also enjoying this St Ives Sensitive Skin Apricot Scrub. I don't use it everyday, but once in a while it gives the ol' face a good buff. The smell reminds me of when I lived in Ireland which is always nice. Plus it's ridiculously cheap at only $3.49 or something like that.

Well. That's all I can think of what I'm loving right now.

What about you?

Favourite Things

Yesterday I read about a "Favourite Things" party on my cousin Erica's blog and I thought it was a great idea! In a nutshell, she's inviting some of her girlfriends over to her house, making some great party food and they are exchanging some of their favourite items (all worth $6 or under). I think this is such a super idea and something I would love to try one day.

So I got to thinking (because I have a lot of time for that these days, stuck in this hospital bed while I wait for Spartacus to grow and/or for my blood pressure to go sky high) about what my favourite things are lately.

Here's what I came up with (not all of them are under $6, but all of them appear to be cosmetic):

 First up is L'Oreal Studio Silk and Gloss Curling Mousse. About $5.99 at WalMart and is a really nice creamy mousse. Holds without being crunchy.

Second, Boots Soft and Sheer Tinted Moisturizer (I use Fair). I found this at Shopper's for about $8 on sale, but regular is around $17. This is super smooth and creamy without being heavy, gives some colour and coverage but I do add some of my regular liquid foundation to this to get more coverage when I am going out or something. But for everyday around the house, this does the trick! I like this because my skin is sensitive, but this is not irritating. A winner! 

 I have always liked Nivea lip chap, but usually only buy the regular blue tube that comes in the 2 pack. This time I tried this Nivea Hydro Care lip chap and am really liking it. This is about $1.99 I think. Very light and moisturizing. Doesn't make my lips break out and make me look like a clown. Another big winner!

 I got this Johnson's Bedtime Lotion as a baby gift from a girl at work, but I started using it on myself and haven't stopped! It's got a great light scent and doesn't irritate my skin. I think this is about $3 or $4 at WalMart.

Another Nivea product: Nivea Strawberry Lip Care...again, about $1.99 for a tube. I use this mainly for the light red colour this gives my lips...nice for a pop of colour without pulling out the sticky lip gloss. Makes me feel light and fresh! I did actually see this at Dollarama (I think maybe in the Cherry flavour), so that's even better than the $1.99 price tag at WalMart!

Leah's Favourite Things: Norwex Sanira Toilet Brush System

Like Oprah, I have favourite things! Unlike Oprah, I cannot afford to give them away to you. But I can share some of my favourite items with you and post a picture, too!

One of my favorite things that first comes to mind is my Norwex Sanira Toilet Brush system.



From Norwex.ca:
Both cleaning solution and brush are produced from environmentally friendly raw materials. The cleaning solution is vegetable-based with coconut oil and a naturally-occurring sugar surfactant. The brush does not contain any metal parts. Using only 3-4 ml once a week (compared to 30-40 ml of traditional cleaner), the solution will last approximately 1 year.

I bought this toilet brush system in 2009 after I hosted a Norwex party. The hostess gifts from Norwex are amazing, so if you haven't had a Norwex party yet, you should! My cousin Erica is having a Norwex party soon, which is why I was inspired to write this post! Because I used some "free" money from the hostess gift, this toilet brush came at no cost to me! I think it retails for about $50, and the refills are about $15 (I think). Unfortunately there are no prices listed on the website. But I've been using this system for over a year, and although I have a refill waiting until the bathroom sink, I have yet to pull it out! It is advertised that using it once a week will give you about one year of clean toilets! If that's not great bang for your buck, I don't know what is!

The thing I like best about this toilet brush is how convenient it is! There is no separate toilet cleanser to pull out and squirt around the bowl, no chemicals, and no nasty smells! All you do is push down on the handle of the toilet brush, the solution oozes out onto the bristles and you are ready to scrub! I love the smell and being able to clean a toilet in less than 10 seconds is a bonus!